Nicole Kidman Says She Was Overwhelmed By ‘Big Little Lies’ Success

Nicole Kidman recently graced the “Ellen Show” to talk about the hit HBO TV series, “Big Little Lies,” and her character, among many other things.

During her conversation with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres (via Entertainment Tonight), Kidman admitted that she was a bit underwhelmed by the response the series received in the beginning. However, things quickly changed when more viewers started tuning in. “It was weird, when it first came out I remember calling and being like, ‘Awww, I was hoping it would be a little more successful.’ I was like, maybe it wasn’t going to hit the place we really wanted it to hit, and then it just started to snowball. And the great thing was, because it was on HBO, everyone had to wait each week to see the next step,” she said.

Read: “Big Little Lies” Season 2 may finally happen on HBO

Kidman also recounted the many times people at airports or on the streets came up to her to tell her that they are watching her on “Big Little Lies.” A lot of the fans also praised Kidman for her realistic portrayal of Celeste. The character was in an abusive relationship with her husband, Perry (Alexander Skarsgard). But their marriage ended in tragedy when Perry got killed by Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz).

In some of Celeste and Perry’s scenes, the latter would physically abuse the former. Kidman said that she and co-star Skarsgard committed to their roles 100 percent, so there were times when she would feel physical pain whenever Perry would hurt Celeste.

“I felt a sense of duty that I wanted to give truth to such a complicated story, and I wanted it to be incredibly real for the audience, so I threw myself into it, to the point where I would come home at night with bruises and really sore. And he would grab me, and Alexander did not mean to do this – and I would never tell him that he was hurting me – because I wanted him to commit to the scenes. Then when people watch them as an audience, they can feel that somehow it was real, and that it was important to me because the storyline is about domestic abuse, and that’s a very, very important, serious subject right now,” she said.

Meanwhile, “Big Little Lies” star Reese Witherspoon may have just hinted on the possibility of a Season 2 renewal. On her Instagram account, the actress posted a photo of herself with Kidman and Laura Dern. She captioned the photo by saying that they are ready to tell more lies. After HBO released the final episode for “Big Little Lies,” there were also rumors that there could be a second season. However, the network has not made an announcement regarding the show’s fate.

“Big Little Lies” book author Liane Moriarty told The Sydney Morning Herald that she’s already thinking of new storylines for the characters in the series. However, she clarified that she won’t be writing a sequel to the book. “I have started to think about ways this could continue. I wouldn’t write a new book, but perhaps a new story, and then we’ll see what happens,” she said.